One of the realities my husband Eddie was exposed to after assisting me in both the Fort Myers and Naples show is that quilters want to make quilts themselves. They may love your pattern, but they don’t want to purchase a quilt you’ve made. Eddie, bless his heart, is an accountant. He knows cost accounting, which is the process of accumulating the costs of labor and materials and marking up for sale. These costs include designing 21 turtle designs for the embroidery machine and standing and watching the machine to catch any issues that may arise. Then there’s 20 – E2E designs and the quilting time. This is followed by cutting fabric, sewing the pattern together, ironing, loading the machine with backing, batting and the top, then quilting on the Gammill. His costs, plus profit margin, equates to a $900 finished quilt.
He learned from winning first place in Naples, that the ooh’s and ah’s and calls to inquire on the price is quickly met with silence when he asked $900. He even asked the inquirers what they felt the quilt was worth to them, yet more silence or polite refusal.
With this in mind Eddie began drafting the instructions so that Quilter’s can now purchase the pattern for $10, followed by the 21 turtle designs for $1 each, this way the DIYers costs only comes to $31. Now that’s a bargain, he has stated to me. You can watch the turtle designs come to life on your single needle Babylock Solaris or other brand dual purpose machine.
Therefore, if you really want to make your own “Aloha O Honu” wall art quilt, you now have the means to do it with. Aloha Nui Loa!
